Earning that first dollar is incredibly special and a moment many never forget. We asked some very talented creatives from the community to tell u s the story of the first dollar they earned from their creative works.

Nita Perez

Oh, man! It was about 2018 and we had gotten our first “real” gig at a kids museum called Knock Knock Museum. We (the band) had played in front of crowds before but this was different. It was a blast and I still vividly remember being handed the 10 dollar bill. In fact, I was so proud of it I have it framed. Read more>>

Andy Tullis

The first real money we made as band was when we signed with a small Indie label. It wasn’t a lot but it was a first for us. There was a since of validation that we we’re on the right path musically. It lead to some wonderful experiences. Read more>>

Tanner Sutton Ciemntha Kosechata

If you make it out to a concert, you can find proudly displayed front and center on our refrigerator, the first dollar we earned at The Garden. Last September, we hosted our first concert, and a friend thoughtfully grabbed a purple Sharpie and wrote the date to commemorate the night. It’s a wonderful daily reminder of all the great memories and new friends we have earned along the way. We appreciate the community we have and continue to build, and it all started with that dollar! Read more>>

Sunny Laprade

I started doing standup at 15 years old, and I come from a SUPER small town, so word about me being a comic got around pretty quick. At 16 I got asked to do a set opening for a band at this local man’s private party/family reunion called “Millerfest.” He told me that everyone was going to be super drunk, so that I could get as dirty as I wanted with my material, as long as I didn’t get political, and that he would give me 20 minutes on stage, which at that point in my life was the longest set I had ever done by a pretty large margin. So, because I had his permission, I wrote a TON of FILTHY jokes to fill the time, and then, right before I got on stage, I looked out into the audience and realized in horror that 50% of them were under the age of 8 years old. So I turned to the drummer of the band and said, “Oh no, my set is super dirty and the audience is full of children, what do I do?” and he looked at me, shrugged, and said, “Fuck ’em.” so I went out and did my nasty set, and I KILLED. A kid asked for my autograph after the show, and then the man who had booked me drunkenly stumbled over and handed me a wad of cash that turned out to be WAY more than what we had agreed upon! Read more>>

Katerina Lanfranco

While in graduate school pursuing my Master of Fine Arts degree at Hunter College, City University of New York I produced a series of “Field Note Studies” of invented hybrid animals in their imagined habitat. I had them on view during an open studios early on in my program. Luckily they caught the eye of a New York art dealer. Eventually Priska Juschka, whose eponymous gallery, located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn ended up selling over a dozen of these works on paper to the significant Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection destined for the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. I had made these drawings in what felt like an idiosyncratic personal creative bubble. I devise different ideas about what kinds of marvelous hybrid creatures might exist in the world, and what types of environments they’d inhabit. I painstakingly assembled different parts of foam animal shapes and applied my version of scientific identification and wrote out their names letter-by-letter with individual stamps. During the time that the sale happened, I was traveling solo through Europe by train on an unlimited Eurorail pass. I was recreating my own version of The Grand Tour to see as much of Europe as possible with its tremendous reservoir of arts and culture in museums, galleries, and churches. When I found out that my work, or rather several of my works were destined for the permanent collection at the MoMA I was elated. I had never sold any art for money, let alone into a museum collection. Before that I had been uncomfortable selling art. People had offered to buy, but instead I would give my work as a gift to people I cared about. So, it was a surreal experience. I remember celebrating that evening on a beach in Barcelona twirling around with sheer joy and delight that my first art sale was essentially into the most important museum collection for Contemporary Art in the world. I knew that this was an auspicious beginning and would be a source of continuing comfort in the inevitable ups and downs of living life in the pursuit of art. This became a touchstone, and the first time I earned money as a creative. Read more>>

Lee Ellis

I started out in public art. I was fascinated with Banksy and the work of street artist. Working for a country club during the summers I would occasionally create small murals on the pool deck out of chalk for the members to enjoy. It had gotten to a point where members would start to say, “you should get paid for that!” One summer I started to send thousands of emails to every outdoor festival in north east Ohio purposing my chalk art to help “enhance” the experience. I had about two photos of some work I had done for fun and I used them to try to convince the organizers of these events that I was legit. Thankfully it really paid off, I got to work for jazz festivals, museums, and even 5k runs. It was at this moment that I honestly felt that I could start calling myself and artist. Read more>>

Lexi T

In 2014, I hosted my first show in Atlanta on Peters Street at a record store called I AM Music, which was located right next door to what would later become Kandi Burress’ restaurant, Old Lady Gang. I had recently moved from DC to Atlanta to pursue my music career full-time. Being new to the city, I didn’t know many people there. However, I had started a girl group and we had been practicing diligently for our performance. Despite not having a fan base yet, we decided to organize our own show to introduce ourselves to the world. Read more>>